OKC Taxi Driver Arrested For Sexual Battery, Roommate Speaks Out

Police arrested MD Shahinur Reza, a local taxi cab driver, after a woman called saying he forced himself on her at the end of her cab ride.

OKLAHOMA CITY -

Police arrested 35-year-old MD Shahinur Reza, a local taxi cab driver, after a woman called saying he forced himself on her at the end of her cab ride.

Reza stands accused of sexual battery and is being held on a $5,000 bond.

OKC Police said he did not make any taxi cab confessions when they questioned him Thursday night.

News 9 found his cab still parked at a Northwest Oklahoma City complex off Portland Ave. where he was tracked down. The people who lived there said he was staying with a friend and had not been there long.

“I've known him three weeks tops, maybe three weeks,” said Larry Leaf, who said a minister friend asked him if Reza could stay with him since he was new in town. He couldn't believe the allegations.

“He's pretty quiet, said Leaf. “He stays to himself, but he's very attentive to hearing the word of God.”

According to the police report filed, a woman said she called for a cab from Partners nightclub off NW 36th St, asked to swing by the nearby Wendy's, and then wanted to be taken home. She told police it was in front of her apartment complex that the suspect got in the back seat of his cab and tried to rape her.

She claimed he kissed her on the lips before she could react and that when she pushed the driver off,

He became more aggressive and kissed her again and fondled her breasts with both hands.

She told officers that's when she pushed him off again and punched him.

But she made sure to pay him for the taxi ride. She claimed the driver even gave her his card and told her to call him. She then called police and gave that card to officers as evidence.

News 9 went to Thunder Cab taxi service seeking comments, but no one would go on camera.

But the operation manager did tell News 9 they cooperated with police and provided Reza's whereabouts that night based on GPS records.

He also told News 9, all their drivers pass background checks, are trained to be professional, and that they work as independent cab drivers. He stressed, these are only allegations, and that Reza was a new cab driver for him, but was experienced. He also stressed, he would not knowingly put anyone out there that would be a danger to the public.